


Overreacting

by timeloop



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Communication Failure, Eavesdropping, Emotional Hurt, Lack of Communication, M/M, Misunderstandings, Not Happy, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Worth Issues, Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes friendship, Tony Stark Has Issues, no happy ending, overreacting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 13:51:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1094646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeloop/pseuds/timeloop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony overhears Steve and Bucky talking, causing him to question himself. Pride and unwillingness to listen cause an argument which results in Steve leaving.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has no happy ending, because I didn't know how to write one. Not beta'd. Comment if there's anything wrong please!

It was 2am and the entire tower was dark. If one listened closely enough, footsteps could be heard on the 35th floor of the tower. Tony was walking down the hall towards Steve's room to pass him an upgraded shield which would give him more flexibility and freedom during battle, something Tony thought he needed after the afternoon’s fiasco. Wearing a simple black tank top and loose pyjamas bottoms, only a glowing blue circle of light could be seen in the darkened hallway. He couldn't wait to see the look on Steve's face when he handed over the shield. Tony enjoyed seeing the looks of satisfaction on his team members’ faces when he handed out upgraded weapons as gifts. It gave him a warm feeling on the inside when he observed how much better they did during battles after using the upgraded weapons.

Quickening his pace, but still walking as lightly as he could in order to surprise Steve, he was given a shock of his own when he heard muffled voices coming out of the room.

Tony Stark was an inquisitive man, the entire world was aware of that. He enjoyed seeing the inner workings of things and was constantly asking questions that went beyond what ordinary people would be consider to be normal. What most people didn’t know, was that personal space was not a real concept in the mind of the genius inventor. Since the door to Steve’s room was slightly open, he stood outside it where he could see Steve's silhouette in the dim lighting of the room. Oddly enough, at this timing, Steve was not alone.

There were voices speaking. Although they were rather soft, Tony was still able to hear them quite clearly.

"You know how he is! He is not good for you!" said the first voice, slightly agitated.  
"Yes. I am aware of that." _Ah, that’s Steve’s voice._  
"You need to stop it. If not for yourself, then for me. You are going to get hurt. I don't want that to happen. Especially since I know how it'll break you. You’re my best friend, Steve, I don’t see how this can end well in any way."

 _Who are they talking about?_ Tony leaned in a little more and tried to get more information. Straining his ears and resisting the urge to have JARVIS record the entire conversation so he could thoroughly analyse it at another time, he was slightly surprised when he heard his name.

"Stark is impulsive, reckless, arrogant and a time bomb waiting to go off. You know that. He is everything we despise, why can’t you see that?"

 _Me?_ Tony was getting even more interested now.

"Well. Yes. ……… Yes. He is", Tony heard Steve mumble.

 _Ouch._ Tony was aware that he wasn't the most morally upright, selfless or altruistic person around, but hearing Steve agree to whoever was saying it without defending him made it even more apparent. Like hearing your best friend say something mean about you behind your back. Doubts began creeping into Tony’s mind. Doubts that he thought he had buried so deep within himself, they were never to surface again. Negativity can be likened to a disease that slowly grows, and the uncertainties in Tony Stark’s mind began to feed on themselves, creating a ripple effect of self-introspection.

_I get that there are instances where I charge out during a fight, but I wouldn’t do it without calculating all the probabilities first. I don’t think I’m reckless for going in without back up, since that is the logical course of action, given how I always reach the scene first. I always follow orders, okay not always but still, I really want to follow his orders. Since when do I act arrogant around him? It’s not like I can brag much standing next to the most perfect man in oh, I don’t know, the entire country? I wouldn’t dream of hurting him no matter what he does to me, honestly, I’d never hurt Steve no matter what. He even said we would fight everything together, that night. Together. We are in this together....aren't we? Shouldn't he be punching that person for badmouthing me?_

The sudden barrage of negative thoughts had hit Tony like a wave and swirled and crashed around his gut, making him feel slightly sick. Leaning his back against the wall to steady himself, he closed his eyes and exhaled. In doing so, he missed the next words spoken.

"…… Good. Now, I got to go but this talk is not over."  
"Alright."

Steve walked over to the door and pulled it open.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets caught eavesdropping and he wants to get away.

The creak of the door startled Tony and he dropped the shield to the floor. The shield that he had unknowingly been clutching to his chest while scrutinizing all his faults. It fell with a resounding clang that made Tony cringe at the sound.

"Tony?" Steve said with a look of bewilderment on his face.  
"Steve! Uh I got your shield here. I upgraded it so you'd have more flexibility. Yeah. It's much lighter but still as strong and powerful and the angle of the throws are more accurate. If you think you need any upgrades come to the workshop I’ll do it for you, no charge, of course it’s free, you guys got me to work for free I still can’t believe that yeah." Realising that he was babbling, he shut his mouth, biting on his lower lip hard to prevent a torrent of questions he had from flooding out. _Shit I can’t look at him!_ Bending down slowly in order to prolong the amount of time he didn’t have to make eye contact, he picked up the shield and forcefully shoved it into Steve's chest.

Right at this moment the mysterious figure stepped out of the room, giving Tony a deadly look as he stepped right in front of him, cutting off the eye contact between him and Steve.

"Stark."

It took Tony a moment to register the figure standing in front of him.

Then he replied in a cold voice, "What the _fuck_ are you doing in my house?"  
"Steve called me."

This was one of the few times in his life that Tony Stark was left speechless. The sheer surprise at seeing this figure combined with the sick feeling in his gut made him feel extremely annoyed. The inability to handle the situation with a snarky remark or witty retort increased Tony’s level of frustration and he made a mental note to invent something so that could teleport himself out of situations like these. Attempting to salvage whatever pride he had left, Tony turned and walked as fast as he could to the elevator that would bring him back to his lab in the basement. Almost breaking into a run, he breathed out heavily with a sigh of relief when he finally reached the lab. The familiar sound of machines whirring, codes running and the slightly burnt smell of metal had a calming effect on Tony and he sat on his bench, staring at the work to be done in front of him.

Back outside his room, Steve's patience was wearing thin. He really didn’t want to get into an argument at 2 in the morning. He stated plainly, "Bucky, _please_. Go. Now."  
"But Steve, I --"  
"Just. Go."  
"What if I don't?"  
"Look, Bucky, I know you want to protect me. I am highly aware that it is a habit of yours. It’s been there ever since I was a little guy. Heck, you still did it even after I had been injected with the serum. I am **truly** grateful to have you as a best friend. But what we had, that was the past. When you …died… I learnt that I had to protect myself too. I can’t always rely on people to protect me. It’s my responsibility now. I’m Captain America remember? I can take care of myself. This time I’ll save the people that are important to me."

Without replying, Bucky tentatively raised his hand towards Steve's head to ruffle his hair, but the latter flinched and it became an awkward shoulder grab instead. He whispered, "I can't promise anything."

Watching the brown haired figure disappear into the elevator, Steve took a deep breath and shook his head in an attempt to sort out his thoughts. He took a few moments before starting towards the workshop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bucky is just a very protective best friend that does not approve of Tony Stark. Also, I like to think that Tony babbles in times of awkward social situations, hence the lack of punctuation.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark is angry, Steve Rogers is confused, things go to shit.

­­­Tony was muttering under his breath as he tightened the bolts on a new bow he had designed for Hawkeye. “How could he do this? _Seriously how could he?_ He knows how much I hate the guy. How long did it take for me to even be in the same room as him? 2 years. That's right. 2 years. 24 months. 730 days. 17520 hours. And now he just calls the guy without telling me. At 2am in the morning! And they were saying what a bad person I was. What a bad person I **am.** I mean the guy freaking -- why won't this damm screw stay in place for God's sake!”

Then, in a louder voice, "JARVIS, delete all that. I don't want anyone hacking into my server and seeing what a whiny person Tony Stark is. Although if anyone could hack into my server, I’d just hire them to work for Stark Industries, seeing how my server is one of the most secure servers in, oh I don’t know, the entire world."  
"Your voice levels and vital signs are showing distress, Sir. Would you like me to summon a physician?”

“Did I mention a physician? I just took a jog here, J.A.R.V.I.S, I’m fine. Did you delete all that?”  
“Yes, sir."

"Too bad I've already heard it all," a deep voice said behind Tony.

Tony jumped so hard that the screwdriver flew out of his hand and would have taken Steve's eyeball out if not for the lightning fast reflexes.

"Whoa there. Are you trying to kill me?" he said with a grin after catching the screwdriver and walking towards Tony.

"Yes. I would like to," he mumbled under his breath. Tony attempted to maintain an air of indifference, but deep down he was angry. **Very** angry. He wanted to punch the life out of something, and then keep punching until he couldn't feel anything. Looking at Steve, a whole range of emotions bubbled through him and he couldn't decide what emotions to show. Rage? Anger? Disappointment? Hatred? While he attempted to comprehend this multitude of emotions, Steve’s shadow fell over the bow that Tony had picked up and was inspecting carefully.

"Tony, we need to talk." Steve said while putting his hand over Tony's and interlocking their fingers.

It was such a nice and comfortable feeling to be holding hands like this, but Tony refused this show of affection and pulled his hand away quickly. Placing the bow onto the stand on the table, he folded his arms and stared defiantly at Steve. His dark eyes conveyed the message of _Don't you dare touch me again or I'll punch you._

"Tony."  
"... ... ..."  
"Tony. Let's talk."

_He wants to talk. Sure. Talk about why he was having a secret meeting in my house? About why they were even in the same room? You want to talk? Damm right we'll talk!_

"What about, Rogers? Oh wait, let me guess. Is it A) Why Bucky was in my house or B) Why Bucky was in your room, hmm, or maybe, C) How you didn't defend me or perhaps D) All of the above?"  
"You're not even letting me explain the situation to you."  
"What is there to explain? I saw it all, Rogers. You have no need to answer to me. I’m nothing to you anyway. You can move out anytime you want. Now, even, if you like. Don't let me stop you from leaving."  
"... ... what on earth?"  
"It's over."  
"Wait, what is over? Did I miss something here?"  
"You can be with Bucky now, I won't stop you."  
"Bucky? Huh? I'm not…what are you talking about??"  
"Do you really need me to spell it out for you? I'm breaking up with you. It's over between us.   
"Tony what the heck is wrong with you? You're overreacting. Let me exp---"  
"No. Get out of my workshop. I never want to see you again, Rogers. I don’t like it when you come here and think you can change the way things work in my house, because that is not how it works. I hate the way you’re so perfect, always knowing the right thing to do, at the right time. I don’t appreciate you being here and showing me how easy it is to be a good person, and how believing in the best of everyone comes so easily to you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still here huh? Thank you for coming this far! But there's not gonna be a happy ending alright?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go separate ways.

The reason why Tony was being so stubborn and refused to listen to Steve was simply because he was afraid. The fear of losing someone because he wasn’t good enough for them was deeply ingrained in him ever since he was a child, and no amount of therapy had been enough to remove this fear. It was a part of him that he had to grow up with, that he had to live with every day, and no matter how well he hid it throughout his daily life, this fear would surface at the worst of times and cripple Tony’s ability to reason rationally. He had expected this to happen eventually but he didn't realize that it would blow up in this crazy manner.

Ever since day one, when he had gotten closer to Steve his mind had been calculating the probabilities, going through all the scenarios, thinking and listing all the reasons why he deserved to be with this almost perfect human being. In his mind, he knew that for some reason he would be rejected by Steve someday. A little corner of Tony Stark’s mind always made him feel that he was deceiving Steve because the Tony he saw when he looked in the mirror and the Tony that Steve Rogers saw were two completely different people. As sucky and humiliating as it was to admit, Bucky was right.

 _I’m a time bomb waiting to go off._ _Without the suit, would Steve even have given me a second look?_ _When I’m Tony Stark, I’m not the fighter and warrior that makes the right calls, no matter what. I’m just. Me. I can’t be relied on, my decisions are all for selfish reasons, I can’t even ---_

His train of thought was broken by the feeling of warm arms circling his waist. Those arms belonged to one of the two people Tony truly felt safe with. As if he could hide from the world while he was held in those arms. Only his mother and Steve could create such soothing feelings in his chest just by holding him like this.

A second later however, he realized showing his feelings was a mistake and he attempted to pull away. Unfortunately, without the suit his strength was no match for the super soldier who refused to let go.

"Tony. Stop it. Stop saying such hurtful things."

There was a hint of hurt and pain in Steve's voice that Tony could tell he was trying to mask. Stiffening his body, he made no movement to escape, but he didn't return the embrace either.

Steve moved his hands upwards and placed them over the arc reactor. His fingers were gentle and light, and he was not adding any pressure but their presence felt like a weight on Tony’s chest. He stood like that for what seemed like an eternity, and then he whispered into Tony's ear, saving what he was going to say next for him and him alone.

"Well. Since you don't want me anymore, I guess this is goodbye."

Then he let go.

Tony felt the arms leave his body and he heard the slide of the automatic door open. His ears caught J.A.R.V.I.S saying, “What floor shall I take you to, Sir?” before he collapsed into his couch at the opposite end of the workshop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the end! Yep! That's it! Or is it? Thanks for reading to the end!!


	5. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A letter from Steven Rogers to Anthony Stark.

"Dear Tony,

How are you doing? It's been 3 months since I've moved out to HQ. It's pretty nice here. Simple. Quiet. Peaceful, in fact, without all the ruckus you guys make.

I guess I should get to the point. Tell me why you're so hard to forget, Tony. Tell me why I can't face the truth. What we had, were you just using me? Was making Captain America one of your conquests an achievement for you? Why can't I let go of this? ~~Of us?~~

It broke my heart when you said those words. Especially the way you did it. Even more so because you didn’t give me a chance to explain myself. Why couldn’t you just ~~shut up~~ and listen to what I had to say. Listen to me, getting angry over small things like this. That's probably why you were annoyed with me. Always fretting about small details. Worrying about nothing. Well, I suppose it’s the way we perceive things, your mind, it’s so quick, so analytical, and I’m just an old man, relying on my emotions and instinct.

I guess the main point of this is to say, I'm sorry. The last argument we had, it ended badly. Very badly. But you know me, you of all people should know, I won’t force someone to do something they don’t want to. Since your actions conveyed your thoughts, I believed that the best course of action was for me to respect your decision, and to leave you alone.

That's why I moved out of the tower that very night. I didn't know how to react. A part of me wanted ~~so badly~~ to stay with you, but the other told me to leave. ~~I left because you asked me to, remember that.~~

We both know which side won.

I miss you.  
I need you.  
 ~~I loved you~~. I still do.

Honestly, I don't know why I'm writing a letter that will never get sent. I guess, I'm just still not over you. I guess ~~we~~ , I never really moved on. I would love to talk to you, if you want to of course. I just can’t seem to pick up the phone. Funny, how that used to be so easy.

Yours,  
Steve."

 

Sighing, Steve picked up the letter on his desk, read through it one last time, and crushed it with more force than was necessary. He threw it into the trashcan behind him without looking. He didn't miss. He never misses. He's Captain America. _He doesn't make mistakes._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it! I love these two characters, I just also really like emotional situations I don't intend to hurt them or anything, comment if there's anything you'd like to say to me.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying to explore their relationship in terms of Tony being a stubborn but secretly really insecure person and Steve being aware that the insecurity is there but he didn't realise it was that deep-rooted, so he just accepts what Tony says at face value. Hope it turned out right!


End file.
